Which VTT offers the most fluid experience?
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MapTool
This looks awesome, haven't heard of it. I wonder if I could get my Roll20 group to switch over and host our game independently...
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I bet this question gets asked a lot. I have been DMing an in person group for a couple months now. My first game back since around 2008 or so and I'm hooked again. The downside is that we're all parents and scheduling is a nightmare (per the norm). We are only meeting once a month or less.
So I want to look into running another game online. I tried roll20 with a one shot that I wrote for the purpose and being that it was my first time using the platform it just kind of got in the way. I want to pick one platform (roll20, Foundry VTT, or whatever) and really do a deep dive to learn it so I can run an online game with a steady group. Setting up the self hosting of Foundry is no problem for me but I've read that players can find it confusing to use. I want players and myself to be able to manipulate the platform as seamlessly as possible.
Before I keep rambling on forever, what in your opinion is the easiest VTT to run and to play? I would like perspective from players and from DMs.
wrote last edited by [email protected]After using Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds from both sides of the table, I landed on Foundry VTT and never looked back.
It's not free, but the value for the price is almost unheard of these days. Andrew and his team have a knack for finding a good balance between power, flexibility, ease of use, and beauty. Also, they engage with the community, and parts of the software are even open-source.
I would only suggest another VTT if the DM and players were all dirt poor, or if the DM had especially weak computer skills.
My only major complaint is that the official support channels and collective knowledge are locked behind Discord's terms and conditions, which means I am denied access to both despite having a paid license. Fortunately, I don't generally need support.
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I bet this question gets asked a lot. I have been DMing an in person group for a couple months now. My first game back since around 2008 or so and I'm hooked again. The downside is that we're all parents and scheduling is a nightmare (per the norm). We are only meeting once a month or less.
So I want to look into running another game online. I tried roll20 with a one shot that I wrote for the purpose and being that it was my first time using the platform it just kind of got in the way. I want to pick one platform (roll20, Foundry VTT, or whatever) and really do a deep dive to learn it so I can run an online game with a steady group. Setting up the self hosting of Foundry is no problem for me but I've read that players can find it confusing to use. I want players and myself to be able to manipulate the platform as seamlessly as possible.
Before I keep rambling on forever, what in your opinion is the easiest VTT to run and to play? I would like perspective from players and from DMs.
Honestly, when it comes to VTTs we've found that it's better with the simpler ones. With the fancy ones like Foundry and Roll20 with integrated rules we found that we were more caught up in trying to find out how to do something in the VTT instead of just doing it. At some point it stops being a TTRPG and is more like a video game with all the limitations that entails.
The helpers seem nice at first. Like counting how much you've moved in a round. Remembering stuff like advantage, sneak attacks, automatically rolling saving throws. But when it doesn't work for whatever reason or edge case you've found, then it stops the play and you're stuck trying to work around it.
A simple map where you move tokens around with the DM manually opening up what you can see worked much better for us in the long run.
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Honestly, when it comes to VTTs we've found that it's better with the simpler ones. With the fancy ones like Foundry and Roll20 with integrated rules we found that we were more caught up in trying to find out how to do something in the VTT instead of just doing it. At some point it stops being a TTRPG and is more like a video game with all the limitations that entails.
The helpers seem nice at first. Like counting how much you've moved in a round. Remembering stuff like advantage, sneak attacks, automatically rolling saving throws. But when it doesn't work for whatever reason or edge case you've found, then it stops the play and you're stuck trying to work around it.
A simple map where you move tokens around with the DM manually opening up what you can see worked much better for us in the long run.
I am really leaning towards Foundey at this point but you make the simple map format sound very appealing.
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After using Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds from both sides of the table, I landed on Foundry VTT and never looked back.
It's not free, but the value for the price is almost unheard of these days. Andrew and his team have a knack for finding a good balance between power, flexibility, ease of use, and beauty. Also, they engage with the community, and parts of the software are even open-source.
I would only suggest another VTT if the DM and players were all dirt poor, or if the DM had especially weak computer skills.
My only major complaint is that the official support channels and collective knowledge are locked behind Discord's terms and conditions, which means I am denied access to both despite having a paid license. Fortunately, I don't generally need support.
I am leaning towards Foundry at this point but it’s also starting to seem like yawing VTTs really well is like another hobby unto itself. Like painting minis.
I’m not sure if I have room for that in my life. I’ll still give it a go and see if it clicks.
